


Danny and the Manic Guide

by Foodmoon



Series: Partner and Pain in the Neck [1]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010), The Sentinel
Genre: Contagious lunacy, Gen, Implied Relationships, M/M, Mentions of violent situations, Platonic Relationships, Sarin gas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-01
Updated: 2018-02-01
Packaged: 2019-03-12 07:50:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13542960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Foodmoon/pseuds/Foodmoon
Summary: Danny is certain that Steve is a Guide. He can't see why others don't see it at all.





	Danny and the Manic Guide

**Author's Note:**

> All mistakes are mine.

Danny is certain, from the first time they meet, that Steve is a Guide. He’s not sure why the term jumps to mind, but Steve is a far too good at manipulating people into doing what he wants (for the amount of sanity he obviously lacks) for it to be straight up charisma. Danny remains convinced of this for no real reason than seeing the evidence of it repeated over and over. To his knowledge, he himself is neither a Guide nor a Sentinel, so him picking up on it when no one else does is a bit odd.

Also obvious to him is that Steve isn’t a particularly strong Guide, or _someone_ would have noticed by now. At the very least, he’d be able to project his crazy on more people and drag them along with him, and that would’ve attracted notice. Danny’s not sure if that’s a good thing or not.

Steve could use some therapy.

Then again, it would be migraine inducing level stress if he _could_ simultaneously draw more than a couple people at a time into his crazy. And to be clear, while Steve _drives_ him crazy, it’s not like he can actually pull Danny in. The tug of it is there, but Danny is good at resisting. Something others don’t seem to be able to do. As proof, just look at the innumerable times that Danny is the only one scolding Steve about things that are blatant misconduct for an officer of the law, not to mention _against all common sense._ Even his own daughter is not proof against Steve, and that’s saddening, because Grace is usually a better judge of people than that.

So, it’s not like the crazy _isn’t contagious,_ at least in Steve’s vicinity (or when speaking to the man). It’s just that it doesn’t touch Danny. Sheer frustration and an overdeveloped sense of responsibility sometimes drive Danny into _acting_ like it has in an effort to protect his partner, but that’s something else.

Irritating as it is, though, Danny can’t even use the behavior of those around him as evidence if he wanted to try to explain his conclusion. He could say ‘look at Kono’, but in truth it’s fairly obvious that Kono’s always been a bit crazy herself. Just look at her unnerving love of surfing. And Chin… Well, Chin is Chin and there’s not much to say about that. He could point at the behavior of the perps, but who’s to say that it wasn’t Steve dangling them over the side of a building (or worse, because Steve seems to have an infinite knack for worse) that drove them to confessing in terror? Or that acting in ways that just don’t contribute to their survival isn’t part of their criminal mindset?

No one, that’s who.

So, of course, Danny can’t prove it. Not even to himself (except that he’s _sure_ ). Which means that Danny never says a word about it, not even to Steve. Not even when he’s in full-blown rant (which Steve inspires him to quite regularly). Not even to Grace, because Grace will tell Steve. And as much as Danny cares about Steve, well, crazy is crazy, and he’s not sure he can quite trust the lunatic to not decide to try some mind mojo on him and screw him up permanently so he can’t tell anyone else.

Danny prefers his brains in his head, in proper working order, thank you _very_ much.

~

It’s not until the sarin gas exposure that Danny realizes he’s wrong. Steve is _not_ a Guide, and he _has not_ been online.  
  
Not with the way he’s _growling_ at the new nurse that came into the isolation ward to check on Danny, and backing her into a wall, eyes not-sane in a way that speaks nothing of his usual lunatic enjoyment. And look, _Danny can’t talk._ He’s in an oxygen mask, for god’s sake. So he snaps his fingers.

Steve flinches like a bomb has gone off next to his ear, but he stops growling and looks at Danny. Who scowls at him disapprovingly and points at the floor beside his bed. His lunatic hesitates, then slinks over to stand where he’s been instructed. That doesn’t stop him from tossing the hapless nurse menace filled glowers.

The woman looks back and forth between them, then wisely doesn’t approach, but slips out of the room.

Steve gradually calms down, and Danny doesn’t push it (because he can’t talk, mostly), even though he really wants to ask, _‘And what was that about, babe?’_

The doctor comes in a few moments later, looking harassed. “The nurse said you have a problem with her?”

Steve huffs. “She smells like death, and you expect me to let her near my partner?”

“That- Oh. One of our longer term patients died a couple hours ago, and she was in there helping with that.” The doctor pinches his nose. “But really, Commander McGarrett, there is a reason that it’s standard SGC policy for those accompanying a patient to inform the hospital if they are Sentinels. It’s so these things can be avoided.”

“Sentinel?” Steve looks and sounds baffled, bemused, and any other variation of confused and totally out-to-sea that one could think of.

Danny rolls his eyes and manages to reach far enough to tap Steve’s hand, getting his attention, then raises two fingers significantly. He taps his mask, and then his ears to elucidate further. Really, Steve is dense.   
  
Maybe Danny had been wrong about the Guide thing, but Sentinel is at least closer than Mundane, so he’s not _that dense._ How could Steve have missed that smelling death on someone so clearly wasn’t normal, and that his hearing had been briefly out of control, too? Perhaps it is part of being a lunatic? Although, since he is a Sentinel, some of his near-psychotic determination to jump face first into danger now makes a bit more sense, so maybe he’s not _quite_ as crazy as Danny has always assumed.

Still.

The doctor clears his throat. “I believe your friend is saying that you are a 2-sense Sentinel, Commander.”

“Partner.” Steve snaps, correcting him. Then he turns a sulky look on Danny. “How do you know? Because this sounds like a bunch of-”

He breaks off as Danny levels a chiding finger at him.

“Fine. What makes you think that?”

Danny gives him a _‘You are ridiculous, babe’_ look, then curls his hands to mimic cartoonish claws before tapping the mask once again. He points at his ear again, then at Steve’s, and snaps his fingers again. Playing charades is almost as ridiculous as Steve is being, but there’s really no other way, given that no one has offered him anything to write on and he _can’t talk._

“What’s that supposed to mean, Danno?” Steve whines. And yes, he’s descended to whining already to avoid the truth.  
  
Why does Danny even put up with this child-man? Did he piss off some Hawaiian god who determined Steve was to be his eternal punishment? Or is it just fate, because Danny’s the only person on the planet able to resist Steve’s crazy enough to keep him from killing himself outright in his adrenaline filled rush to jump into deadly situations with manic glee?

“Commander McGarrett.” The doctor sighs, then continues. “You had a near-feral episode after _‘smelling death’_ on Nurse Green. I’m not sure how snapping figures into it, except that your partner has observed that your hearing was in overdrive as well. It really doesn’t take a lot of deduction to know that you’re a Sentinel when you go _nearly feral_ over a scent no one else can even smell.”

“How can no one smell _that?_ She literally _reeks_ of it!” Steve demands, leaning forward, offended.

Danny taps his hand again and shakes his finger at him. _‘Give it up, babe.’_

Steve gives a huffy whine and settles back. “Fine.”

“The answer is very simple, Commander. Sentinels have a much more acute sense of smell than the average human. I suggest you go to the local SGC center and get some information on the phenomenon, as it is quite apparent that this is all new to you. They will be able to help you find a Guide, as well.”

Steve’s expression goes tragic at the doctor’s final sentence, and he grabs Danny’s hand in a desperate grip. “Nooo!”

Danny rolls his eyes again. Because it’s obvious, that even if Steve listens to Danny (now and then, when he’s humoring Danny to put him in a better mood), Danny is a Mundane and Steve will need a Guide now that he’s online. There is no doubt at all that Danny is part of Steve’s ‘pack’ in his lunatic, Sentinel head. But that doesn’t mean Danny’s his _Guide._ Steve needs a Guide! Though, god knows, finding a Guide insane enough to keep up with Steve is going to be a trial.

_‘Oh, babe. What am I going to do with you?'_

**Author's Note:**

> I have not watched the series, so it's very possible that the post-Sarin incident care went down differently.
> 
> You may be wondering when I'm going to reveal that Steve is much more powerful than a mere 2-senser. The truth is, I'm not. I like the idea of Steve as a low-level Sentinel and it gives him much more leeway to keep putting himself into those crazy situations he likes so much, without giving him more over-the-top authority and responsibility.
> 
> As for Danny? Well, you'll find out when I do. Not even Danny knows at this point, so he can't tell me yet.  
> I think there will be at least one more in this series.
> 
> No need to tell me it's rough, I know.  
> Editing or other comments are fine, but please be gentle.  
> Formatting kicks my ass.


End file.
